Editing Randolph Scott (section)

====Zane Grey apprenticeship====
[[File:Poster - Man of the Forest (1933) 02.jpg|thumb|right|With [[Verna Hillie]] in ''[[Man of the Forest (1933 film)|Man of the Forest]]'', 1933]]
[[File:Poster - Man of the Forest (1933) 05 (1).jpg|thumb|right|[[Barton MacLane]], [[Tom Kennedy (actor)|Tom Kennedy]], [[Noah Beery Sr.]], Scott and [[Verna Hillie]] in ''Man of the Forest'', 1933]]
[[File:Poster - Man of the Forest (1933) 09.jpg|thumb|right|[[Noah Beery Sr.]] and Scott in ''Man of the Forest'', 1933]]
Scott's first role under his new [[Paramount Pictures|Paramount]] contract was a small supporting part in a comedy called ''[[Sky Bride]]'' (1932) starring [[Richard Arlen]] and [[Jack Oakie]].

Following that, however, Paramount cast him as the lead in ''[[Heritage of the Desert (1932 film)|Heritage of the Desert]]'' (1932), his first significant starring role and also the one that established him as a [[Western (genre)|Western]] hero. As with ''Women Men Marry'', [[Sally Blane]] was his leading lady. [[Henry Hathaway]] made his directorial debut with ''Heritage of the Desert''. The film was popular and Scott would go on to make ten "B" Western films loosely based on the novels of [[Zane Grey]].

Many of these Grey adaptations were remakes of earlier silent films or even retitled versions of more recent movies. In an effort to save on production costs, Paramount utilized stock footage from the silent version and even hired some of the same actors, such as [[Raymond Hatton]] and [[Noah Beery]], to repeat their roles, meaning that sometimes their ages would vary eight or more years during the same scene. For the 1933 films ''[[The Thundering Herd (1933 film)|The Thundering Herd]]'' and ''[[Man of the Forest (1933 film)|Man of the Forest]]'', Scott's hair was darkened and he sported a trim moustache so that he could easily be matched to footage of [[Jack Holt (actor)|Jack Holt]], the star of the silent versions.

In between his work in the Zane Grey Western series, Paramount cast Scott in several non-Western roles, such as "the other man" in ''[[Hot Saturday]]'' (1932), with [[Nancy Carroll]] and [[Cary Grant]]. Scott returned to Zane Grey Westerns with ''[[Wild Horse Mesa (1932 film)|Wild Horse Mesa]]'' (1932), then was the romantic male lead in ''[[Hello, Everybody!]]'' (1933). ''[[The Thundering Herd (1933 film)|The Thundering Herd]]'' (1933) was another Zane Grey Western with Hathaway, then he was in two horror movies, ''[[Murders in the Zoo]]'' (1933) with [[Lionel Atwill]] and ''[[Supernatural (film)|Supernatural]]'' (1933) with [[Carole Lombard]]. After the Western ''[[Sunset Pass (1933 film)|Sunset Pass]]'' (1933), Paramount loaned Scott to [[Columbia Pictures|Columbia]], to play [[Bebe Daniels]]'s love interest in a minor romantic comedy called ''[[Cocktail Hour (film)|Cocktail Hour]]'' (1933).

Back at Paramount, Scott acted in the Westerns ''[[Man of the Forest (1933 film)|Man of the Forest]]'' (1933) and ''[[To the Last Man (1933 film)|To the Last Man]]'' (1933), both with Hathaway from Zane Grey novels and featuring Noah Beery Sr. as the villain. Scott was loaned to [[Monogram Pictures]] for ''[[Broken Dreams (1933 film)|Broken Dreams]]'' (1933) then was back with Hathaway for ''[[The Last Round-Up (1934 film)|The Last Round-Up]]'' (1934).

Scott did three more Zane Grey Westerns without Hathaway: ''[[Wagon Wheels (film)|Wagon Wheels]]'' (1934) directed by [[Charles Barton (director)|Charles Barton]] (a remake of 1931's ''[[Fighting Caravans]]'' starring [[Gary Cooper]]), ''[[Home on the Range (1935 film)|Home on the Range]]'' (1935) from [[Arthur Jacobson]], and ''[[Rocky Mountain Mystery]]'' (1935) with Barton.

Film historian [[William K. Everson]] refers to the Zane Grey series as being "uniformly good".<ref name="Everson">Everson, William K. ''The Hollywood Western: Ninety Years of Cowboys and Indians, Train Robbers, Sheriffs and Gunslingers''. New York. Citadel Press, 1992, First edition 1969.</ref> He also writes:

{{blockquote|''To the Last Man'' was almost a model of its kind, an exceptionally strong story of feuding families in the post-[[American Civil War|Civil War]] era, with a cast worthy of an "A" feature, excellent direction by Henry Hathaway, and an unusual climactic fight between the villain (Jack LaRue) and the ''heroine'' ([[Esther Ralston]], in an exceptionally appealing performance).

''Sunset Pass''...&nbsp;was not only one of the best but also one of the most surprising in presenting Randolph Scott and [[Harry Carey (actor born 1878)|Harry Carey]] as ''heavies''.}}

The Zane Grey series films were a boon for Scott, as they provided him with "an excellent training ground for both action and acting".<ref>Nott 2005, p. 9.</ref>